Cathay

This beautiful old Art Deco cinema from the 1930s at Huaihai Lu in Shanghai was designed by Czech architect C.H. Gonda. It opened on January 1, 1932 with the American movie “A Free Soul” starring Norma Shearer. It was renovated in 2003. Unfortunately it is just the outside that is still like before, the rest is not very nice. Even if it got municipal preservation status in the early nineties. (Middle Huaihai Road is also well known by its former French name Avenue Joffre, especially when you talk to some of the very old expats in Shanghai. )